On the Chieftain they had a high power mode where you could crank up the voltage for a short period, before it would trip out. There was some chance of burnout if you kept it on too long.

Same with those on the M60s, we called it "Overdrive" and we got about half again as much light. Problem with going overdrive is as you said, the real possibility of burning out the light, and there was also potential for damaging the vehicle batteries.

Did anyone ever light one off in dense fog at night? Silly idea, but I imagine it could have been rather disorienting.

Yep, did it all the time during gunnery in the pre-thermal days. When the fog would role in at night we go to "fog watch" waiting for the fog to lift (it rarely did) so we could shoot. Part of the exercise was for the the searchlight tank(s) to turn on their searchlights every 15 minutes or so to determine if there was enough visibility to shoot (rarely ever).

Did anyone ever light one off in dense fog at night? Silly idea, but I imagine it could have been rather disorienting.

Yep, did it all the time during gunnery in the pre-thermal days. When the fog would role in at night we go to "fog watch" waiting for the fog to lift (it rarely did) so we could shoot. Part of the exercise was for the the searchlight tank(s) to turn on their searchlights every 15 minutes or so to determine if there was enough visibility to shoot (rarely ever).

Thanks. I was thinking that brilliant white suddenly enveloping everyone would have been disorienting.

Did anyone ever light one off in dense fog at night? Silly idea, but I imagine it could have been rather disorienting.

Yep, did it all the time during gunnery in the pre-thermal days. When the fog would role in at night we go to "fog watch" waiting for the fog to lift (it rarely did) so we could shoot. Part of the exercise was for the the searchlight tank(s) to turn on their searchlights every 15 minutes or so to determine if there was enough visibility to shoot (rarely ever).

Thanks. I was thinking that brilliant white suddenly enveloping everyone would have been disorienting.

Yes, I suppose it could be if the fog is dense enough. I never gave it much thought except....Battle for Berlin, General Zhukov used hundreds of searchlights to initiate the battle as a means to dazzle and confuse the defending German forces. The plan backfired because of ground fog, not only were Russian forces thus backlit, the searchlights proved to have a dazzling effect on their own troops.

DKTanker, that's an interesting tidbit of history. I remember once, during a low-light stage at a shooting competition, experiencing a bit of dazzle when a shooter accidentally set his weapon light on 'strobe', even though I was behind the shooting line. It's scary how even a relatively low light level can mess with dark-adapted eyes.

On the current plan, sources tell us, BAE will begin building AMPVs next month under a $873 million contract for the first 297 machines. And that’s just part of what the Pentagon calls Low Rate Initial Production. The full LRIP phase, plus prototypes already built, could total about 460 vehicles for $1.2 billion. (That’s counting the ones in today’s announcement, which was for the exercise of two contract options totaling $575 million).

The Army wants Full Rate Production to replace almost 3,000 M113 variants in service with its armored brigades, which would bear the brunt of any future ground wars. Yes, the “aluminum coffin,” as some crews called it, was long ago replaced in frontline infantry companies and scout troops by the better armed and armored Bradley. But many M113 variants remain in service just behind the forward companies as mobile command posts, armored ambulances, weapons carriers, and general-purpose workhorses.

In Iraq, those M113 variants were deemed too vulnerable to roadside bombs and either confined to base or not deployed at all. (Even in Vietnam the main threat was not guns but mines, leading many soldiers to feel safer riding on top of the M113 rather than inside). That worked as long as the Army could use an extensive network of bases and supply routes to support relatively static counterinsurgency operations. But in a fast-moving mechanized war in Eastern Europe, the armored brigades would need support vehicles that can both keep up with M1 tanks and Bradleys over rough terrain – hence the Army’s insistence on tracks, not wheels – and stand a chance against Russian firepower.

The Army’s not just brigades, however. Further behind the line, there are over 1,900 more M113 variants in service with division and corps-level support units. All of those will to be replaced by something as they wear out.